Tag: libraries

emergencies, public information, and libraries

Posted on by jessamyn

When disaster strikes, is the library web site a place you could go to for breaking news, even if the library was closed? I hate to be a disaster vulture, but I always wonder when things happen like the tsunami, or 9/11, or this hurricane, what is the library’s role? How could their web presence help people? Here are some other New Orleans web sites, to demonstrate what I mean.

  • the Loyola web site automatically redirects their home page to the emergency announcement page and includes a bright yellow button on the footer of every page on the site so even if you start on a page within the site, you’ll see their announcements.
  • Louisiana State has a news sidebar explaining that the school will be closed
  • The Louisiana Library Collection Database even managed to put two links in which aren’t too styling but direct people to FEMA and the National Hurricane Center
  • LSU Health Sciences does it quickly and simply with a big emergency headline across the main page.
  • Nichols State even appears to have a blog ready for emergency preparedness with a way to post regular updates, linked off of the main page.

My question to you: if there was an emergency, could you update your library home page quickly to inform your patrons?

update: due to sporadic electricity in the Louisiana area, many of these sites are now down. I’ve added a bit more description in lieu of actual pages you can look at.

eulogy for the “university of the ghetto”

Posted on by jessamyn

A poignant tale of a library becoming an Idea Store.

On the record the staff talk brightly of the new Idea Store which will replace both the Whitechapel and Stepney libraries from mid-September – the glossy leaflet boasts not only “more books, CDs and DVDs” and seven-day-a-week opening, but also that it “is located right in front of Sainsbury’s”.

Off the record they feel bereaved, despite struggling once its fate was sealed and maintenance virtually stopped: in a recent flood the usual buckets were clearly failing to cope.

[thanks ej]

how responsible is the librarian for the internet?

Posted on by jessamyn

Steven IMed me about the library director who was suspended with pay because of patrons — including a registered sex offender — allegedly viewing porn in the library. The City Commissioner is recommending that she be fired. I posted it to the Council list and was told the Washington office was aware of the situation. Rochelle wrote a few words about it, and now the entire affair has been slashdotted. The library has filters apparently, but they’re imperfect. The staff does walk-throughs of the computer areas but, apparently, they are imperfect also. Let’s also rememebr that this is Florida, the state that doesn’t let sex offenders into hurricane shelters and perhaps you’ll see what we’re up against.

investigating the biblioblogosphere

Posted on by jessamyn

Very fascinating article and research by Walt about library blogs. Instead of pullquotes and links, he crunches some (admittedly somewhat subjectively chosen) numbers to line up 60 library blogs in some semblance of order. Don’t like his conclusions? You can download his data and fiddle with it yourself. Which reminds me, I need to get my mission statement back on this page. Fiona notes: we need tools, and fast and puts out a call for more non-USian bloggers.

What is your library doing on September 11th?

Posted on by jessamyn

David and Sarah are ramping up The September Project this year. If your library is doing something on September 11th, let them know. If you haven’t yet thought about it, now would be a good time to get started. If you need ideas, they’ve got ’em. In 2001 librarian.net didn’t even have permalinks yet. Keeping focused by providing access to the content that others were creating was a way of making sense of the chaos that was unfolding, not just on 9/11 but in the world since then. The September Project’s events are “…activities of reflection, discussion, and dialogue about the meaning of freedom, the role of information in promoting active citizenship, and the importance of literacy in making sense of the world around us.” and it takes place throughout all of September, not just Sunday the 11th. You can keep up with the progress of the project on The September Project Blog, of course.